Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support Senator McDonald's suspension of standing order and her motion on fuel security. The fact is that the war in the Middle East will see a rise in fuel prices across our country. The failure of the government to deal with what is happening at petrol browsers right now, this week, with fuel that is already onshore, is unconscionable. The fact is that this will be a layered and cumulative impact of the home-grown inflation that is right at the feet of Treasurer Jim Chalmers. It means Australians are struggling with fuel increases, energy bill increases and insurance bill increases. The cost of housing has gone through the roof because of inflation that this government has caused. And, on the top of that, you are now going to have inflationary pressures as a result of fuel price increases.

What is the Labor Party doing? Nothing. The way to get these cost-of-living pressures down is to cut government spending. We're now at the highest proportion of government spending across our economy in 40 years. That's what's driving up inflation, that's what's driving up interest rates, and that's what's driving up Australia's cost-of-living pressures. You've got the budget. Use it.